Cast From the Earth by Leandra Vane
- An epidemic that turns men into monsters has seized the nation. At first the disease only spreads in cities but soon cannibals are roaming the prairie, threatening the quiet little towns of the late 19th Century heartland. At an isolated poor farm in rural America, Sara Warren has survived a tumultuous life of loss and an accident that leaves her with one leg – but she is hopeless of any other future until a woman named Cordelia arrives at the farm and changes Sara's life forever. Along with Dan, a man who can't hear and Grace, a young woman who is more concerned with her sewing needles than people, they face the oncoming apocalypse with their wits and their bare hands. When it seems like all is lost, a man from Sara's past named Jack returns to her life and they all realize the only way to survive is together. A story of romance, violence, sex, and the wild prairie that proves broken bodies still feel pleasure and broken souls can find love – even at the end of the world.
Review
I will be the first to admit, zombies are not my thing. I really enjoy a good suspense novel or even some hard core horror, but there is something about zombies that just doesn’t do it for me. NOW, that said, I really enjoyed this novel. While the zombies factor into several chapters, and two of the MCs go through some terrible circumstances for over six months because of it, this novel is definitely a romance. The zombies become something of a metaphor, and that made them more unique and interesting than your typical cannibal crawlers.
Two of the MCs know one another from the town where they both grew up, but are brought together again when they seek out a new life. A poor farm in the middle of nowhere seems an unlikely location to find happiness, but a solid family forms from the five MCs. The descriptions read as a bit bleak at first, but as we learn the territory and the MCs, we find pockets of hope and beauty. It makes the zombie situation that much more horrific when the monsters begin to threaten the family.
Only one of these romantic relationships is already in place when the five begin to form a family, so we get to watch the attractions and love stories unfold. But, each character is given a solid portion of the story on their own, so they aren’t just representative of a disability or obstacle to be overcome. They each have a valuable asset to contribute to the family, and help each other become stronger. This increases when they must come together in support of one another due to the reactions of the country to the zombie threat. Suddenly, being different isn’t just an issue because of living in a town so far from big city comforts, but also because of layers of distrust that brew.
